The Unexpected Diaper Debacle

I unknowingly set myself up for a diaper brand face-off before we left for our Philly Christmas trip and now that I’m thankfully on the other side of it, I want to share the experience and outcome.

We have been using the Amazon diaper brand “Mama Bear” for over 6 months now. I love the softness, the diaper’s ability to hold wetness overnight and I especially love that they are hypoallergenic and free of fragrances. We have them as a Subscribe & Save item so a new box (144 diapers) is delivered monthly.

As I was packing for our trip to Philly I noticed we were a bit low on diapers (we had one and a half packages) but I was sure the new shipment would come in before we left. We were leaving on the 18th and we typically receive the shipment the first or second weeks of the month. I checked on the shipment the day before we left and it wasn’t due to be delivered until January 1st.

We were going to be in Pennsylvania until December 28th and I definitely didn’t have enough diapers to last me the whole time but I didn’t want to order another big box of diapers since our scheduled shipment would arrive soon after we arrived back home. So I planned on picking some up at Target or a local grocery store. Here begins the showdown.

The first brand of diapers I picked up was the Honest brand. We tried them before because of the clean materials and cutest patterns, they held up okay but Luca was much younger. The giraffe pattern of the diapers was super cute but the sizing was odd. Their size 4 (meant to fit 22-37lbs) were very snug on Luca (24lbs). They are very soft and hold up decently overnight as far as absorbency goes but when I would change Luca in the morning the top of the diaper was pushed down way below his pant line. Additionally, I purchased a 23 pack for $10.99 — at $0.48 per diaper I wanted to be wowed.

Once the Honest brand was running low, we picked up Pampers Baby Dry (same size 4). We were at my parents mountain house and purchased them at a local grocery store, a 23 pack for $11.94 — at $0.52 per diaper they was much more expensive then the Honest brand but without the cleaner materials. The first thing I noticed about the Pampers was the smell. Oh my gosh, the smell! They smelled like baby powder and flowers and honestly made me a little nauseous — definitely not fragrance free. In that moment as I opened the package and was assaulted by perfume, in my toddlers diapers what the heck, I vowed to only ever purchase fragrance-free diapers for the rest of my life. I made a similar vow with the cosmetic, skin and cleaning products I use — fragrance chemical safety isn’t regulated and we truly have no idea what is in something when it says “fragrance.” Google it! ..stepping off of my soap box..

The smelly Pampers lasted us until we were home from our Christmas trip and I thought that the Mama Bear shipment would come in before we ran out given they were supposed to be delivered January 1st. I checked on the shipment on December 31st to ensure that they were going to be delivered the next day as I only had a enough diapers to last us one more day. Apparently they pushed the delivery date out until January 3rd so I was forced to pick up another package of diapers from the store.

I figured why not grab another brand so that I can evaluate all of them and see which ones are the best (for us)! I went with Huggies little movers because we used Huggies before when Luca was smaller and they are hypoallergenic and fragrance free. And at $8.29 for 22 diapers ($0.38 per diaper) they were a more inexpensive option. I don’t really have any complaints about Huggies. They held up well overnight and fit Luca comfortably.

But I love the Mama Bear brand and after checking on the shipment for the thousandth time and seeing it wasn’t going to be delivered until January 7th (I mean really Amazon what the hail), I ordered a big box of them so that I hopefully won’t run out again. Because while it was a fun activity to try out different diapers, it was stressful and expensive and I would have preferred to have just received our December monthly Mama Bear shipment on time.

At $37.99 for 144 diapers, it makes it the least expensive by a wide margin at $0.26 per diaper ($36.09 if you set up Subscribe & Save — $0.25 per diaper).

I broke down the experience by brand below. Overall, Mama Bear is still my favorite but I may consider switching to Huggies because of their absorbency.

What is your favorite diaper brand? I’d love to know!

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